bugsonmyboard

The temperature climbed steadily as we motored downward into the town of Ouarzazate, which serves as a gateway for expeditions to the Sahara desert. Crossing the Atlas Mountains had taken far longer than either Jonathan or I had anticipated and we were now tired from two long days of riding. We checked into a hotel with our two favorite qualities: dirt cheap and indoor bike parking. We drove the bikes in the front door, through the lobby, and tucked them in to sleep right in front of our room, nearly close enough to cuddle. An unnatural degree of attachment to our machines is developing.

The next morning we set off for some desert riding,blasting along on tracks and cross-country over the desert pavement that makes it pretty easy to just point your bike wherever you want to go and roll on the gas. We came across some strange sights in the desert:

Morocco has a long history in the film industry with lots of movies and television shows filmed near Ouarzazate including as Lawrence of Arabia, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven, and part of the Game of Thrones television series. We came across several relics of films gone by and sets for others currently in production. Since there was no one around to tell us otherwise, we helped ourselves to a tour aboard our bikes while trying to guess the films and shows that we were riding through.

Jonathan was keen to stick around the desert for awhile for some dune riding on the KTM and I had a swell to catch in Safi. So while he tried his best to keep his clutch in tact and axles above ground in the sand, I motored westward over another mountain pass back towards the coast.

I took the long way out of Ouarzazate along a beautiful twisting single lane asphalt road where I found the fortified city or ‘ksar’ of Aït Benhaddou and the first of the kasbahs: fantastical looking buildings often hewn straight from the red cliff faces that flanked them. The Berber people who historically inhabited this area and still do are responsible for construction of these earthen high walled structures, the oldest of which are believed to date from the 17th century. Ksar Aït Benhaddou (top image) has even been designated a UNESCO world heritage site. While most people now live in the adjacent village, apparently 8 families still live within the walls of the ksar. Historically, almost all cities in this region had a kasbah, as it was a sign of power and wealth for the city and a necessity to survive an attack from the outside. I must have passed a dozen ksars and kasbahs as I rode up the Ounila River valley.

My zen attitude about motoring in Moroccan traffic evaporated climbing the mountain pass headed back to Marrakech. Even with a line of ten cars bumper to bumper ahead of me while climbing the twisty grade, no driver could stand being behind a motorbike and they would just creep up beside me, half in the oncoming lane, and then shove me over to the crumbling shoulder. Ironically enough, I was surely the fastest thing on the road. Eventually I became so frustrated with this behavior that I somewhat dangerously blew by the entire line of cars in one go. It was very satisfying to leave everyone behind that seemed so willing to put my life at risk for no reason whatsoever. I could feel adrenaline flowing and told myself to calm down and not to do that again. If my luck is good and the wave at Safi is all that its cracked up to be, there would be plenty of excitement off the road.